By Jacob Norling
February 10, 2025
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's and Women's Track and Field began their season this past weekend in Santa Barbara, when the Warriors hosted their annual Sunshine Open. It did not take long for records to fall in 2025.
 
While several personal bests were set on Saturday, not one, but two Warriors displaced a 13-year program record in the women's 60 meter dash. Elysia Hodges had held the record since February 4 of 2012 with a mark of 7.96, but on Saturday, a new duo eclipsed that mark. Jaiden Rodrigues, who holds Westmont's record in the 100 meter dash, ran a 7.94 to finish fourth overall in the event. However, it was Westmont Soccer's Kennah Shaffer running in her first collegiate track meet who walked away with the new program record, after Shaffer finished third overall with a time of 7.92.
 
Head coach Russell Smelley made sure that Hodges' name did not get glossed over after her 60 meter record was broken, as Smelley reminded the Westmont community that, "Elysia followed that met in 2012 by earning 14 NAIA All-American honors, setting 11 school records, and winning an NAIA Indoor National title in the 600 meter on two different occasions."
 
Hodges, now Elysia Mitchell, was just inducted into the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table Hall of Fame this past fall.
 
Hodges' record was originally set in her first collegiate meet, just Shaffer's was on Saturday. Shaffer followed up her performance in the 60m dash by having the meet's best mark in the women's long jump at 5.42 meters. For Rodrigues, she followed up her performance by winning the 200 meter dash with a time of 25.74. Rodrigues currently holds the third-best program mark in the 200 with a time of 24.88 set back in March of 2024. Rodrigues will have her eyes on Hodges' 200 record that was set in 2013, when Elyisa ran a 24.39 in her sophomore year.
 
Elsewhere, Westmont's Gabe Laborin finished with 3,587 points in the men's heptathlon, while Maddie Hofman finished with Westmont's best mark in the women's pentathlon at 2,662 points. In the men's 800, sophomore Joshua Lin came in second overall with a time of 1:53.74, while Andres Leon came in just behind with a mark of 1:55.81. In the women's 600, Claire Van Horn also finished in 600, with the sophomore finishing with a time of 1:41.41. In the women's 1000, Abigail Hundley came in third with a time of 3:08.10, the best mark for any Warrior in the event on Saturday.
 
Another note on the men's side was the debut of Zola Sokhela in his senior season, as he began his swan song by winning the 1000 meter run with a time of 2:26.04. Jack Vanden Heuvel came in right after Sokhela with a time of 2:28.53. In the men's weight throw, David Oyebade led the pack with a mark of 14.58 meters, while in the long jump, John Sakaguchi led the pack with a leap of 6.72 meters. Rounding things out, Joel Nakazawa led all competitors in the men's discus, as he finished with a mark of 42.13 meters.
 
Reflecting on the day, Smelley shared that, "the team had a productive day of competition with competitive efforts bolstered by team enthusiasm throughout the day."